NB: I forgot to mention one significant element of gameplay: if you cannot complete any action that the Emperor calls for, you get taxed and lose 1 gold (and if you have no gold, you fall back one on the road to Rome). In the case where he asks you to do a task that other players have already done (and you therefore cannot do), he doesn't tax you, but you don't get the chance to move forward on the road to Rome.